On the fifth day of Christmas, we ordered a HAMPER from Brixton Cornercopia. Our hamper of choice is the Lambeth larder made from produce sourced from allotments and gardens around Lambeth, including the Edible Bus Stop in Clapham North. For us it is the perfect Christmas hamper as it is all about local food and local producers.
Brixton Cornercopia is a tiny neighbourhood larder and restaurant based in the heart of Brixton Market that celebrates localism, seasonal produce, sustainability, and community. Inside its larder, you’ll find jams made with local fruits foraged from nearby Brockwell Park and bread made from heritage wheat grown in nearby allotments. Each item is a local food story that is as much about the producer as it is about the abundance and diversity of south London’s own cornercopia. The restaurant in addition to offering a local seasonal menu also makes its own preserves such as Brixton Market Chutney (pictured) using produce from the market. (Note the restaurant is closed over winter with the dining room being turned into a food-lover grotto as well as home to its growing range of homewares.) To order your hamper Go online at Cornercopia.co.uk, or visit their food-lover grotto where you can create your own. Some of the hampers are limited editions owing to the small batches from each producer. During December, Brixton Market is open to late (10pm) on a Thursday evening for its ‘Brixmas’ market. 5 Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PS Tel. 07919542233 Contents of the Lambeth larder include: Clapham Blackcurrant, Rhubarb and rose conserve, The Edible Bus Stop - green tomato chutney, Brixton market chutney, Chili pepper jelly with lime and ginger, Wild garlic & welsh onion vinegar, Elderflower vinegar, Lucy's lemon zest dressing, Electric IPA and Effra Ale, and Ossie's ginger beer.
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Philip Wilton of Wildes Cheese takes us for a trip on the wild side with tales of cheese dipped in chocolate, the anti-bland, and the joy of cheese-making.
Loyal to Tottenham, decisively local, and more than a touch…well, irreverent, Philip Wilton is a true Londoner. So it’s hardly surprising that when it came to setting up his micro-dairy there was never any question of going rural. For this urban cheese maker, "I couldn’t leave London, it’s my hometown. Besides you can brew beer in London; you can bake bread in London. Then the penny dropped, why can’t I make cheese?" Home is Tottenham in North London in a converted industrial site. Here Wilton produces his cheeses following his own unique business model that combines the artisan with localism and a touch of green politics. While many cheese-makers produce one or two cheeses and sell nationally, Wilton stays closer to home. “You won’t find me in Milton Keynes or Birmingham. My business model is that I make a wider range but I only sell it in London. It won’t go into any supply-chain”. Likewise, milk is sourced from a single herd in Rye Sussex, to avoid over-pasteurisation. “I didn’t want to buy from the big bland diaries producing millions of litres of milk.” Instead “I wanted people to taste cheese where you could almost taste the grass, where you could almost taste where it came from without that blandisation”. Wildes Cheese is the antithesis of bland and his product range includes traditional hard cheeses through to mild creamer ones. There’s St Bruce (also known as the Drunk), a thirsty cheese regularly washed in Hopspur from nearby Redemption micro-brewery. There’s also the Howard - described as a semi-hard cheese, with a hint of blue, named after Luke Howard, the man who named clouds and like Wilton, a boy from Tottenham. There are also Wilton’s self-described “moments of anarchy” or the specials. Current experiments include maturing cheese in a ground coffee case. The result is a background buzz of coffee that he is thinking of including in his normal range. Other ideas include cheese fingers half-dipped in chocolate as well as using saffron. All this is possible because “I’m not a manufacturer, I’m a food producer. I can do things because I can.” Experimentation, creativity and a touch of the wild side are at the heart of this London’s urban cheese maker. You can find Wildes Cheese at Alexander Palace farmers’ market (@allypallyfm) and Duke of York Square, Chelsea (@partridgesfoods ) (@DOYSQ). In the New Year, the urban cheese maker arrives at London Borough Market. You can also follow Wildes Cheese on http://wildescheese.co.uk and @wildescheese. LONDON LARDER You’d find craft beer from either Redemption Brew (@RedemptionBrew) or Howling Hops (@howlinghops). I’ve got some Picco Salumi (@piccosalumi), meat from the local butcher in Chelsea and lamb from Ally Pally market. There’s some bread from Flourish (@flourish_bakery), our local bakers, and a tin of baked beans. BEST LONDON MARKET It’s a split between Partridges (@partridgesfoods ) and London Borough market. Borough is bigger but Partridges is cosy. It has a lot of interesting producers. It’s a great, small market - during the summer, you can grab a glass of champagne and even watch the tennis (during Wimbledon). LONDON FOOD SECRET Season Kitchen in Finsbury Park specialises in good local seasonal food. Bar Esteban is another favourite - it’s a modern tapas bar in Crouch End (@barestebanN8). UK FOOD HERO I’m a lover of cake. So my secret weakness is Eric Lanlard and his store Cake Boy in Battersea. He makes beautiful cakes, he cares about what he does and he has helped lift British cake baking out of the Victorian sponge era. On the fourth day of Christmas, we made EGGNOG. There's no better way to spend the evening wrapping presents that with some boozy eggnog . We got our eggs from Wild Beef at London Borough Market. (We'll be back this week to order our Christmas dinner. (Wild Beef is an ethical, family-run farm producing natural, grass-reared and grass-finished beef.) As for our nutmeg, we brought that at Spice Mountain, also a resident of Borough Market.
On the third day of Christmas we stocked our larder with some of London's best preserves. Of the ones that we have tried and tasted, these are our favorites. Simply click on the links provided to find a stockist near you of some of London's best produce:
Our mind turned to Christmas stockings, especially when we saw this perfect-oh-so-perfect stocking filler at Leftovers at Brixton Market. Delightfully nostalgic and oh so quaint, we loved this bricolage inspired by the vintage wares of this shop. Another gift we'll be putting in our stocking is a Don't Blow It Hanky by the Craftivist Collective that we found at Fabrication on Broadway Market. Christmas has also come to The New Craftsmen with a pop-up garage in London's busy Mayfair. They will be there until December 21 selling craftsmanship from the British Isles, including Mati Ventrillon's FairIlse knits (pictured). Leftovers, 72 Brixton Village Market, Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8PS. Tel. 020 0011 1918 Fabrications, 7 Broadway Market, E8 4PH. Tel. 0207 275 8043 New Craftsman, The Garage, 14 Adams Row, W1K 2LA. Tel. 0207 148 3190
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February 2017
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